In recent events, head of ONE Championship Fighting organization has had many things to say about: them selling the company, not discriminating against female fighters, and how marketing to the chinese population will be easier then the selling it in the US…
Here’s what he had to say…
“ONE Championship has seen a meaningful acceleration in business momentum in the last 6 months. We are on the verge of becoming mainstream and we can feel it in every area of our business. Over the next 3-5 years, our internal plan is to ramp up to 52 events per year or a live event every weekend. I truly believe that ONE Championship will be embraced by all of Asia. We will be woven into the fabric of Asian society and daily life.”
“ONE Championship is in a unique and fortunate position. We do not really have competitors. No one else throws live events and live broadcasts on a pan-Asian basis. We are now in 118 countries.”
“I don’t think that UFC has given up on Asia. While it is true that they have been here for seven years without much traction, I think they simply underestimated how difficult it is culturally. You cannot just use an American formula and expect it to work here in Asia. It is one thing to throw events in North America where the culture, values, laws and tastes are almost homogenous. Asia is the complete opposite. Lorenzo and Dana are great business leaders and I am sure that they will figure it out over time.”
“ONE Championship is not for sale. We have been approached in the past, but we have never engaged in discussions. ONE Championship will cross the $1 billion valuation mark in the next 12-18 months. Our growth has been in the triple digit percent annually and we have not even begun to scratch the surface of the opportunity in Asia. There are 4.1 billion people here. We have a long, long runway of growth ahead of us. Since the beginning, my dream has always been to create Asia’s first multibillion dollar sports media property. Nothing has changed.”
“China is a huge market with big cities. A second tier city in China still has a population of 10 million. And there are dozens of them. It is crazy to think of those numbers, but China is amazing.”
“For sure, Japan has a head start over other Asian countries, given its rich history in MMA. However, I believe the gap will close very soon. Asia has been the home of martial arts for 5,000 years. We are a continent of warriors.”
“It is very important. Genetically Asians have smaller builds than Caucasians. Also, it is no secret in the martial arts world that heavyweights are far less technical than their lower weight class counterparts. ONE Championship wants to showcase the beauty of real martial arts.”
“For me, I care about showcasing the beauty of martial arts, I don’t look at gender per se. If you look at Angela Lee for example, she is a complete martial artist with beautiful technique everywhere. We want superheroes who are the real deal as martial artists and who are exemplary role models as human beings.”
“ONE Championship has local relevance and global appeal because Asians genuinely are the best martial artists on the planet. All human beings on the planet love to root for superheroes who remind them of themselves. Historically, Asians have never really had many Asian superheroes on the global stage, except for Manny Pacquiao and a few others. ONE Championship is in the process of changing that. We are going to create and build Asian superheroes that the entire continent can rally behind.”